Pictures Of You
by Ms Chanadler Bong
Summary: Hey guys! This is a fic I've written about how things are between Karmy after Karma finds out about Liam and Amy sleeping together and how they deal with someone from Amy's past coming back into her life. Let me know what you guys think!
1. Chapter 1

Things between Amy and Karma had been rough for the past couple of months. Karma had found out about Amy and Liam sleeping together and even though Karma had forgiven them, she and Amy were only now finding their way back to where they used to be.

Amy's mom had decided to clean their attic and Amy and Karma were helping her. They'd been looking through boxes that had been packed away years ago, when Amy came across a small shoebox full of old pictures. It had pictures of her and Amy as kids, as teenagers.

"Do you remember this?" Amy asked, smiling, handing Karma over a picture of them dressed as salt and pepper for Halloween.

"Of course I do, it was the fourth grade and my mom took us trick or treating." Karma said, smiling as she looked at the picture.

"You got so upset that I got more candy than you that night." Amy said, almost laughing at the memory.

"I wasn't upset, I just found it unfair that people chose to give you more candy than me." Karma said, pouting.

Amy couldn't help but laugh at how cute Karma looked.

Amy and Karma continued to look through the box, until they came across an old picture. It was black and white, a little tattered and folded at different places because of the wear and tear of time. It was a picture of Amy's father holding her right after she was born. He was a tall man with brown hair; he looked so happy in the picture.

Amy didn't know much about her father, just that he' left her mom and her when she was about four and had never come back. She'd asked her mom about him growing up but Amy's mom didn't say much, she always seemed to want to change the topic and as the years went by, Amy stopped asking.

Karma knew Amy didn't like talking about her dad, there had been a time when she'd wanted to get to know him, find out who he was, where he was; but one day when Amy saw how much talking about him, upset her mom, she decided she didn't want to know anymore; and Karma also never asked Amy about him again.

Amy stared at the picture for a couple of moments, a rush of emotions going through her, but she didn't want to deal with any of them and so she put the picture back in the box.

"I'm getting a little hungry, do you want to go down and grab a sandwich or something?" Karma asked, wanting to distract Amy from the picture she'd just found.

"Sure." Amy said absent-mindedly.

It had been a couple of days and Amy and Karma hadn't spoken about the picture and Amy tried her best to forget she'd ever even seen it. Amy didn't want to think about her father, he didn't care about her, he just left and so Amy didn't care about him either; or so she told herself.

Amy wanted to concentrate on getting her and Karma back on track, Karma was the most important person in her left and she'd already come too close to losing her, she just couldn't let that happen.

"So what do you want to do after school today?" Amy asked, as she picked at her lunch.

"I don't, we could just hang out at your place." Karma said.

"Yeah, that sounds good. I have a ton of homework but once I'm done with it, we could binge watch orange is the new black." Amy said.

"Yeah, I have a ton of homework too. I hate math." Karma said.

"Join the club." Amy said, smiling.

"Binge watching orange is the new black sounds perfect." Karma said, smiling.

The thought of being able to just relax and hang out with each other after school was all that got Amy and Karma through the day. Sure things had been weird r between them and Amy always wondered if Karma had really forgiven her but it was days like these, when the thought of each other got them by; that Amy knew that they would be okay.

"So, how was your day?" Amy asked, as she and Karma walked into her room.

"Exhausting, yours?" Karma asked.

"Not bad, I actually got an extension on my homework." Amy said.

"How lucky, I still have to do math and I suck at it." Karma said.

"Now that I have no homework, I can help you and we can be done faster." Amy said, smiling.

Amy and Karma sat and did Karma's homework for two hours non-stop. Amy tried helping Karma understand but nothing seemed to work and so Amy gave up and they decided to begin their marathon.

"Everything is set, I'm going to go make the popcorn." Amy said.

"I'll go grab the ice cream." Karma said, as she and Amy walked down the steps of Amy's house.

As Amy was making the popcorn, the doorbell rang. Farrah and Bruce were out for dinner and Lauren had a date with Theo and so Amy and Karma were the only ones at home. Amy went to get the door and Karma followed her.

Amy opened the door to find a tall handsome man with brown hair standing at the door. He looked to be in his mid forties, a couple of wrinkles near his blue eyes, which got accentuated when he smiled.

Amy couldn't recognize the man and just stared at him for a couple of seconds.

"Amy?" He said.

"Yeah, do I know you?" Amy asked.

"Maybe, I hope so." He said.

Amy tried placing the man but she just couldn't identify him. "I'm sorry, I can't recognize you, who are you?" Amy asked, getting a little embarrassed.

Karma came and stood behind Amy, she couldn't help but find the man familiar. Karma didn't know where she'd seen him but she felt like she'd seen the man, not in a way that she knew him but she knew who he was. The moment Karma figured out who he was, the man spoke up.

"I'm your father." He said.


	2. Chapter 2

Amy just stood there, staring at the man standing in front of her. She'd dreamt of this moment, thought of different scenarios of when she'd finally meet her father but not one of them was like this.

The man waited for Amy to respond, he looked sad, apologetic.

"What are you doing here?" Amy finally asked, after a couple of minutes of silence.

"I've come to see you." The man said, trying to smile sincerely.

"You had sixteen years to come see me, so why now?" Amy asked.

"I know I've screwed up but I've come to make it up to you." The man said.

"Well, you don't have to." Amy said, slamming the door in the man's face. Amy stood against the door for a second, taking a deep breath, trying to process what had just happened.

"Are you okay?" Karma asked.

"Yeah, let's get back to our marathon." Amy said, walking towards her room.

Karma looked back the door, confused about what to do; finally she walked away, trying to catch up with Amy, she didn't want Amy to feel like she wasn't there for her.

"Amy, do you want to talk about this?" Karma asked, entering Amy's room.

"No, not really." Amy said, taking a seat on her bed.

"Are you sure?" Karma asked.

"What is there to talk about? My father abandoned my mother and I and disappeared off the face of the earth. I spent so long waiting for him, hoping and praying that one day, I'd wake up and it would all be dream; that he'd never left. I waited for him and loved him for too long, longer than I ever should have; until one day I realized he didn't care about me. And so I stopped caring about him." Amy said, tears falling down her cheeks.

Karma didn't say anything, she went and took a seat next to Amy on her bed and put her arm around Amy's shoulders. There were no right words Karma could say to make any of this better for Amy but she could at least be there for her.

Amy had been dreading having to talk to her mom about what had happened last night, but she knew that she had to tell her mom; she deserved to know.

"Hey mom, do you have a minute." Amy said, walking up to Farrah, who was sitting at the dinning room table.

"Sure." Farrah said, in her thick accent.

"Last night, when you and Bruce were out, a man came home." Amy paused, not knowing how to continue. After a couple of moments she said, "He said he was my father."

Farrah was taken aback by what Amy had just told her. She hadn't seen her husband in twelve years.

"Are you sure that's what he said?" Farrah asked.

"Yeah." Amy said.

"What else did he say?" Farrah asked.

"Nothing really, that he wanted to meet me." Amy said.

"What did you say?" Farrah asked.

"I told him he'd had sixteen years to meet me but he didn't and so now he didn't need to and then I slammed the door in his face." Amy said.

"Are you okay?" Farrah asked.

"I'm fine, are you okay?" Amy asked.

"Yeah." Farrah said.

"What exactly happened between you and him mom?" Amy asked.

Farrah looked at Amy for a moment, she didn't know where to start from.

"Your father and I met in high school We fell in love in our sophomore year. We dated all through college and after we graduated, we got married. We'd been married two years when I got pregnant with you. He was so happy, when he found out, we were having a baby. The three of us were very happy for the first four years of your life. I had no idea he was unhappy, not even a clue. And one day, when I came back from work, I found a note saying he was going to buy some groceries; but he'd cleared out his wardrobe, all this things. He'd left and he never came back." Farrah said, between sobs.

Amy went over to hug her mother, heartbroken by the way her father had treated her.

"Well screw him, we don't need him." Amy said.

"We don't but Amy if you want to get to know him, you can." Farrah said.

"I don't even know who this man is mom, he could just be someone pretending to be my dad and the truth is, I don't care who he is, I don't want to know." Amy said, pulling her mother into a hug.

Both of them sat in silence for a while, not saying anything but just enjoying each other's company.

Karma came over to Amy's house later that evening, to check on her.

"Hey." Karma said, walking into Amy's room.

"Hey." Amy said, sitting up on her bed.

"How'd it go with your mom?" Karma asked, taking a seat next to Amy.

"Pretty well actually. She told me the story of how she and my dad fell in love and how he just left and as heartbreaking as it was to see her old wounds hurt her again, I've never felt this close to her before." Amy said.

Karma smiled and asked," So what have you decided then?"

"I've decided that I don't care. For a very long time, I thought the one thing missing in my life was a dad but now I know that I have everything I need. I have you and my mom and Shane and I even have Lauren. My mom's found a nice guy, who loves her and I don't want anything to come in the way of all these things and ruin them. He chose to leave, he didn't pick me when I need him and now I'm not picking him." Amy said.

"I think you've made the right choice and you're right, you do have me. You'll always have me." Karma said, holding Amy's hand.

Amy pulled Karma into a hug; so glad to have someone who loved her as much as Karma did; Karma was her family, the family she picked and Amy couldn't have asked for anyone better.


	3. Chapter 3

Amy had been trying to get her life back to normal and just forget that night. She kept telling herself that she had everything she needed, that's what she said to everyone else too but for that split second that she let her mind wander; she always wondered what it would be like to finally have a father, but she didn't let herself think about it too much. She wanted to move forward, with the people who'd picked her.

Amy's father had been almost stalking her, waiting outside her house, constantly. Amy hadn't said anything at first but she was starting to get sick of it.

"You need to leave." Amy said, closing the door of her house behind her, as she left for school.

"Amy." The man said.

"I'm going to call the police." Amy said.

"Come on, just listen to me." The man said, trying to keep pace with Amy.

"Why should I listen to anything you have to say?" Amy asked, stopping to finally look at the man.

"Look, I know I screwed up but I'm trying to make up for lost time, I'm trying to fix my mistakes. Please just give me a chance." The man said.

"You had sixteen years to try, but you never did. It's too late now." Amy said, beginning to walk away from the man.

"I wrote you letters and tried calling. I did try to get to know you Amy, but your mom didn't let me." The man said, not chasing after Amy anymore.

Amy stopped in her tracks and turned to look back at the man. "What? My mom would never do that."

"She did, ask her." The man said.

Amy didn't respond, she just kept walking but what the man said, hit her like a ton of bricks. Had her father actually tried to reach out to her? Did he really care? And if he did, why would Amy's mom keep that from her, when she knew how much knowing her father had meant to Amy.

Amy met Karma at the bus stop. She just sat on the bench while Karma stood in front of her and just stared at her.

"What's wrong?" Karma asked.

"Huh?" Amy said, snapping out of her thoughts.

"What's wrong?" Karma asked.

" You know how my dad is practically camping outside my house?" Amy said.

"Yeah." Karma said.

"He was there this morning and he told me that he'd tried contacting me, but my mom never let him get through to me." Amy said.

"What?" Karma asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know.." Amy said.

"Do you believe him?" Karma asked.

"I don't know what to believe anymore. A part of me wants to believe he's telling the truth, because then I can finally let myself get to know him but the other part of me, doesn't want to believe my mom would do that to me." Amy said.

"Maybe you should ask her." Karma said.

"Yeah I think I will, but I just don't want to upset her if it's not true, you know?" Amy said.

"Yeah, but you need to know the truth, you owe yourself that, Amy." Karma said.

"Yeah." Amy said.

Karma sat next to Amy on the bench, put her arm around her as they waited together for the bus. Amy was completely lost but at least she wasn't alone.

Amy walked around school like a zombie, flooded with thoughts of her dad and what things could've been like for them, what things were actually like for them. Amy was standing at her locker, taking books out and thinking; she didn't even notice Shane, till she closed her locker.

"Hey stranger." Shane said.

"Hey." Amy said, with a weak smile.

"What's going on? You look like hell." Shane said.

"Thanks." Amy said, rolling her eyes.

"What's up?" Shane asked.

Amy didn't say anything at first, thinking about whether or not to tell Shane, but eventually she decided to tell him. He was her best friend, besides Karma and maybe he could help her.

"What I'm about to tell you, you can't tell anyone. Okay?" Amy said.

"Okay." Shane said.

"Gay Scout's honor?" Amy asked.

"Gay scout's honor. What's going on?" Shane asked, getting curious.

"Okay so, when I was four years old, my dad left my mom and me and never came back. I thought about getting in touch with him, maybe trying to find him but eventually I just decided against it." Amy said.

"So are you thinking about looking for him?" Shane asked, as Amy and he walked to class.

"I don't have to. He showed up at my house a couple of weeks ago. " Amy said.

"Wow." Shane said.

"Yeah." Amy said.

"What did he say?" Shane asked.

"He told me to give him a chance, that he wanted to right his wrongs and I've been ignoring him. So he started practically living outside our house, just so he could speak to me." Amy said.

"So what did you say to him?" Shane asked.

"I told him to get out or else I'd call the police." Amy said.

"What did he say?" Shane asked.

"He told me he'd tried to contact me over the years and my mom didn't let us talk." Amy said.

"What?" Shane asked, in a high-pitched voice.

"Yeah." Amy said.

"What did your mom say?" Shane asked.

"I haven't spoken to her." Amy said.

"Wow Amy. I know all this is very complicated and confusing but I'm here for you." Shane said.

"Thanks." Amy said with a smile.

Amy didn't know how to speak to her mom about all this; she didn't want her to feel threatened. Amy didn't want to argue or fight, she'd believe whatever her mom had to say, between her parents, she'd pick her mom.

Amy sat at the dinning room table, thinking, when Farrah walked up to her.

"How was your day?" Farrah asked, taking a seat next to Amy.

"That's something I wanted to speak to you about." Amy said.

"What's going on?" Farrah asked.

"You know how dad's always outside the house?" Amy said.

"Yeah, I think we'll need a restraining order or something." Farrah said.

"Yeah well, today when I was going to school he said something that screwed with me." Amy said.

"What did he say?" Farrah asked, getting a little concerned.

"He told me, that he'd tried to contact me over the years but you hadn't let us talk. That's not true, is it mom?" Amy asked.

Farrah didn't say anything; she just played around with her wedding ring.

"Mom?" Amy said.

"I was trying to protect you." Farrah said.

"How could you do that? How could you make that choice for me! You knew how much getting to know him meant to me and you still didn't tell me? You let me believe he didn't care." Amy said.

"He doesn't care, Amy." Farrah said.

"You shouldn't have just decided that. If you didn't want to talk him, that was okay but how could you make that decision for me!" Amy said, standing up.

"You were five, maybe six years old Amy." Farrah said, trying to calm Amy down.

"Fine, what about the ten years after that, why didn't you tell me then?" Amy asked.

"We'd moved forward, Amy. I married Bruce and you and Lauren were finally getting along, we've moved on. I didn't want to ruin that." Farrah said.

"I can't believe you." Amy said, walking away.

Farrah just sat at the table, not knowing how to fix this, any of it. She wished she'd stayed home that night, that she was the one to answer the door. She would've pushed him back out of their lives and now it felt like there was going back.

Farrah was lost in her thoughts, when there was a knock on the door. She got up from the dinning room table and started walking slowly toward the door. She took a deep breath to open the door, steadying herself to be ready to meet whoever was behind that door.

"Farrah?" The man said.

"Jack?" Farrah said.

Farrah hadn't seen her husband in years but he looked exactly the same. It was as if, the past twelve years had never happened, it felt as if they were married again. Nothing had changed, even though everything had changed.


	4. Chapter 4

Farrah couldn't believe her husband was actually here, she'd thought of this day for years, imagined every single scenario and it had taken a lot out of her to stop imagining.

"What are you doing here?" Farrah asked, crossing her arms.

"I want to get to know our daughter." Jack said.

"Why now? You had twelve years." Farrah said.

"Yeah well, I tried earlier but you didn't let me get to know her, but this time around, I'm going to fight for her." Jack said.

"You left us Jack, acted like we never existed. So you're going to have to go through me to get to Amy." Farrah said.

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have left and I'm going to spend the rest of my life, making that up to you and Amy; but at least give me a chance." Jack said.

"We've moved on Jack, we've finally built a life for ourselves. So, leave and stop screwing with our daughter's head." Farrah said.

"I'm not screwing with her head, I just want to get to know her." Jack said.

"It's too late." Farrah said.

"Are you talking about it being too late for Amy and me or you and me?" Jack asked.

"Both." Farrah said.

"Why don't we let Amy decide?" Jack said.

"I don't know what you're up to Jack, but I will figure it out and when I do, I'll make sure you leave Amy and me alone." Farrah said.

"Farrah.." Jack began.

"Get out." Farrah said.

"Farrah.." Jack started again, walking toward Farrah.

"Get out." Farrah said, raising her voice.

Jack looked at Farrah for a couple of moments and then left the house. Farrah took a seat at the dining room table and began to cry; a thousand emotions resurfacing, feelings she'd buried up until now. She couldn't go back to a life that had anything to do with Jack, he'd already caused her too much pain and Farrah wasn't going to let him do the same to Amy.

Amy had been trying to figure out whether or not she wanted to get to know her father. He was here, for the first time in her life; this was something she'd always wanted. But he was the same guy who'd left her when she was a baby and never looked back, how could him coming into her life, do her any good now.

Amy lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling; thinking about what she was going to do, what she was going to say to her mom, when she finally decided to speak to her again. Amy was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice, when Lauren walked into her room.

"Hey." Lauren said, standing in the doorway.

"Hey." Amy said, sitting up, a little startled.

"I just wanted to say that this stuff with your dad sucks and I know what you're going through. I'm here if you want to talk." Lauren said and turned to walk away.

"Hey Lauren?" Amy said.

"Yeah." Lauren said.

"How did you deal with the situation with your parents? I mean, how do you deal with seeing your mother after months and not manage to resent her?" Amy asked.

Lauren didn't say anything; she walked back into Amy's room and took a seat in front of Amy, on her bed.

"My parents got divorced when I was ten. My dad got custody and my mom used to really make an effort in the beginning but then as the years went by, she just stopped. She married some guy, who I've barely ever met properly and she lives with him in Florida." Lauren said.

"So how do you deal with seeing her and not hating her?" Amy asked.

"I just told myself I was better off without her." Lauren said.

"Do you ever wonder what things would be like, had things not gone the way they did?" Amy asked.

"For a long time, I wondered what my life would've been like had my parents not gotten divorced, what it would be like to have a mom, who helped me deal with things. I still wonder." Lauren said.

"If you got a chance to rebuild your relationship with your mom, would you?" Amy asked.

"I don't know, probably. But I think it would mostly be because I don't want to wonder what it would be like to know her, or regret never giving her a chance. "Lauren said.

"Do you think I should give my dad a chance?" Amy asked.

"Your situation with you dad, is different from the one with my mom; it's more complicated. It's up to you. How do you feel about it?" Lauren asked.

"A part of me wants to know him, make up for lost time. But there's this part of me that just keeps nagging me, to not let him in." Amy said.

"Maybe you should give him a chance, it's the only way you'll know what was the right thing. At least, you wont have any regrets." Lauren said.

Neither of them said anything and after a couple of moments, Lauren got up to go to her room.

"Hey Lauren?" Amy said.

Lauren turned back to look at Amy.

"Thank You." Amy said, smiling.

Lauren smiled back at Amy warmly and headed to her room. Her conversation with Lauren had given Amy some clarity. She still wasn't sure about the decision but at least she knew what she wanted to do.

After a lot of overthinking and binge eating of donuts, Amy finally decided to go and speak to her mother. Farrah was sitting on the couch in the living room. Amy came down the stairs and stood a couple of steps away from the couch, bracing herself. She took a deep breath and began walking toward the couch.

"Hey." Amy said, taking a seat next to Farrah on the couch.

"Amy.. hi." Farrah said.

"There's something I thought I should tell you, before I go through with it." Amy said.

"Okay." Farrah said, turning to look at Amy.

"I've decided to get to know dad." Amy said.

"Amy.." Farrah began.

"Mom don't try to talk me out of his, I've made up my mind." Amy said.

"Are you sure about this?" Farrah asked.

"Yeah, I just don't want to look back at my life and wonder what it would be like to have a father." Amy said.

"Just be careful." Farrah said.

"I will be." Amy said.

Amy leaned over and gave her mother a hug, somehow reassuring her that even though she'd made her decision, she'd always pick her. Amy was frightened by the thought of how things would turn out between her and Jack, but she was also excited; excited about finally having a complete family.


	5. Chapter 5

Amy paced around her room, she was trying to calm down but just couldn't; it felt as though every second, a new set of butterflies began running amuck in her stomach. Amy was finally going to get to know her father, she'd thought about this for years but now that it was finally happening; she didn't know how to feel.

"You have nothing to worry about." Karma said, sitting on Amy's bed; watching Amy pace.

"How can you know that?" Amy asked, still pacing.

"Because it's just lunch." Karma said.

"What if he hates me?" Amy asked.

"He will not hate you." Karma said.

"How can you know that?" Amy asked.

"Because it's impossible to hate you." Karma said.

"What if we have nothing in common? What if we just have nothing to talk about and it's the most awkward lunch in the history of awkward lunches? I mean you know I can't do small talk." Amy said.

"Look, it is going to be weird at first, for both of you. But once you're past that initial awkwardness, it'll be great. He's going to love you." Karma said walking toward Amy.

Somehow Karma's words managed to calm Amy down and she stopped pacing.

"I know you're scared and nervous, but everything is going to be okay, I promise." Karma said, putting her hands on Amy's arms.

"Thank you." Amy said, smiling.

Karma just smiled back at Amy and pulled her into a hug. Karma was worried about Amy's dad hurting her again, but she'd never tell Amy that; she knew how nervous Amy was but she also knew how much Amy had always wanted this and so Karma tried her best to be as supportive as possible.

"Do I look okay?" Amy asked, taking once last look at herself in the mirror.

"You look beautiful." Karma said. Amy was wearing a knee length, sleeveless white dress. She dreaded wearing dresses but when she did wear them, she looked beautiful; a kind of beautiful that was different from Amy's everyday beauty.

Amy smiled at Karma's reflection in the mirror. Amy took a deep breath, turned toward Karma with a nervous smile on her face and left to meet her dad.

Amy and Jack were going to meet at Luke's, which somehow calmed Amy down because of how familiar, and safe it felt. Once Amy reached, she found Jack sitting in a booth by the window, smiling at her as she walked toward him.

"Hey." Amy said, smiling as she took a seat in front of Jack.

"Hi, you look beautiful." Jack said, realizing for the first time how truly beautiful his daughter is.

"Thanks." Amy said, getting a little embarrassed.

"I've never been here, what should I order?" Jack asked, as he read through the menu.

"The lobster's amazing." Amy said.

"Hi Amy." A waitress said.

"Hi Wendy." Amy said.

Once Amy'd placed the order, just based on memory; Jack asked, "So you've been here before?"

"It's my favorite restaurant." Amy said, smiling.

After a little bit of small talk, once Amy and Jack had gotten comfortable in each other's company, Amy was ready to hear his side of things.

"So you never really told me why you left." Amy said.

Jack looked disappointed, he knew this was bound to come up but he didn't want to talk about it; ruin the amazing afternoon he was having with his daughter.

Jack didn't say anything for a moment, trying to carefully word what he was about to say; it was now that Amy noticed the golden wedding band on Jack's finger. Jack played with his wedding band, as he began speaking. "When your mother and I got married, we were still pretty young. I hadn't figured out what I wanted to do with my life and I was very confused about my future but I didn't realize how confused I really was for a very long time. Your mom and I were very happy for a very long time but somewhere along the way, my confusion and my lack of direction caught up with me."

Jack paused for a second, taking a sip of his water. " I wasn't happy, but it wasn't because of your mother, she was everything I'd ever wanted but the problem was that I didn't become any of the things I thought I would be. In college, I thought I'd start my own software company and I did, but it never took off. Your mom always supported me but I just didn't know how to deal with failing. The only time I remember being genuinely happy was when you were born."

Amy couldn't help but smile at what Jack had said, feeling a little touched.

"During one of the many conferences I attended, trying to meet someone who'd help me with my company, I met someone, a woman." Jack continued.

"You had an affair." Amy said, starting to feel a lump form in her throat.

"When I found out your mom was pregnant with you, I broke up with the other woman . I never spoke to her until the time you were two. We met again and we got back together. I knew it was wrong and I wanted to break it off but then I found out she was pregnant." Jack said.

"Is she the person you're married to?" Amy asked, staring at jack's wedding band.

"Yeah." Jack said, looking down at the ring on his finger.

"Why would you do that to mom?" Amy asked, tears falling down her cheeks.

"I didn't mean to, I just I wanted to be happy again and being with Lindsay, it made me happy. I know that's no excuse but I am truly sorry, Amy." Jack said.

"You left me and mom, to raise your child with that other woman and never once did you come around to check on me, see how we were doing." Amy said.

"Amy.." Jack began.

"I need to get out of here." Amy said, getting up.

"Amy, I'm sorry, please don't go." Jack said.

"I cant stay.. I'll see you around." Amy said, as she walked toward the door. She couldn't stop crying. All this time, she'd been blaming her mom for shutting Jack out but she was right.

Amy didn't even think about it and went directly to Karma's house.

"Hey, what are you doing here, you should be at lunch." Karma said.

Amy didn't say anything; she just went and sat next to Karma on her bed.

"What happened, Amy?" Karma asked, it was only now that she'd seen the tears on Amy's cheeks, her mascara spreading.

"I'm sorry Karma." Amy said.

"For what?" Karma asked.

"For hurting you, for betraying you. Until today, I had no idea what it feels like to have your heart shattered like that." Amy said, fresh tears falling down her cheeks.

Neither of them said anything, they just sat there; surrounded by nothing but silence.


	6. Chapter 6

Amy had been trying to find a way to apologize to her mom, to find the right words to convey how truly sorry she was for ever doubting Farrah. Amy's meeting with her father had been an utter and complete disaster; it was everything she was afraid it would be and the truth was, she didn't really know how to get over that. Karma had been trying to make Amy feel better, somehow fix the damage, Amy's dad had done.

"Hey." Karma said, walking into Amy's room.

"Hey." Amy said, sitting up in her bed.

"So I have the whole weekend planned out for us and you can't say no." Karma said, taking a seat next to Amy on her bed.

"Karma.." Amy said.

"Look, I know you're hurt and you want time to heal and stuff like that but no good can come from sitting around and moping." Karma said.

"I haven't been moping." Amy said, trying to defend herself.

Karma shot Amy a look.

"Okay, so maybe I've been a little mopey." Amy said.

"I know things will take time to become okay and most of it is going to happen on its own but I want to do my part in making things okay again." Karma said.

Amy smiled at Karma, touched by how much Karma wanted to see Amy happy. "What do you have planned?"

"Okay, so we're going to have a girls' weekend, starting from Friday night. I'm going to get PS I Love You, which will be enough to make us cry all night and then we can eat cookies and ice cream to help with the feels." Karma said.

"Sounds perfect." Amy said, half-heartedly.

"What's wrong?" Karma asked.

"I've just been trying to figure out how to speak to my mom." Amy said, looking down at her hands.

"Amy, just talk to her." Karma said.

"But what do I say? How do I apologize?" Amy said.

"Just talk to her, be honest with her, she'll understand." Karma said.

"This is my mother we're talking about." Amy said, with her eyebrows raised.

"Even still, she'll understand." Karma said.

Amy took a deep breath and thought about what Karma had suggested; maybe Karma was right, maybe all she needed to do was talk to her mom. Once Karma left, Amy decided to man up and finally speak to her mother.

Amy walked as slowly as she could toward her mother and Bruce 's room, she really didn't want to deal with this but she knew she had to. Amy took a breath and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Farrah said.

Amy slowly opened the door, "Hey mom."

"Hey Amy , what's going on?" Farrah asked, putting down the book she was reading.

"I just wanted to speak to you about something." Amy said.

Farrah gestured for Amy to take a seat in front of her on her bed.

"What's on your mind honey?" Farrah asked.

"I just wanted to tell you.. How sorry I am." Amy said.

"For what?" Farrah asked, not knowing what Amy was talking about.

"For not believing you when you told me dad was a bad guy, for doubting your intentions when you kept him away. I'm sorry I didn't listen mom, I should've." Amy said, tears forming in her eyes.

"Oh Amy, you have nothing to apologize for. You did the right thing by questioning what I felt; it's good that you found things out for yourself. " Farrah said.

"Really?" Amy asked, sniffing.

"Yeah and I think if you want, you can still give your father a chance." Farrah said.

"Why should I do that?" Amy asked, tensing up.

"You don't have to, if you don't want to. I'm just saying, maybe you should give him a chance to not make the same mistakes with you that he made with me." Farrah said.

Amy looked at Farrah, still unsure about what to do.

"Just think about it." Farrah said, putting her hand on Amy's arm.

Amy was relieved to get things back to normal between her and her mom; she felt like a huge load had been lifted off her chest. Sure she had a lot to figure out, when it came to her father but Amy wasn't going to care about any of that tonight, tonight she was going to have a girls' night with her best friend.

"Okay, are you ready?" Karma asked, walking back to the bed after putting the DVD in the player.

"Yeah." Amy said.

"Do we have enough tissues?" Karma asked, taking a seat next to Amy on her bed.

"Two boxes." Amy said, lifting the boxes up to show them to Karma.

"Ice cream and cookies?" Karma asked.

"Check." Amy said, leaning back to reveal her side table full of things to eat.

"Let's start then." Karma said.

Karma and Amy tucked themselves in bed and got completely lost in the movie. Twenty minutes into the movie, neither of them could stop crying; so they just sat there, crying; Karma's head resting on Amy's shoulder. The movie was about to come to an end, they were at the scene where Holly is at the stadium and she reads the last letter. The moment she says that she can't feel Gerry's presence anymore, that he's really gone; Karma and Amy look at each other.

They don't need words, both of them know what the other is feeling; it was as if they were talking telepathically. They kept looking at each other, the sparks between them threatening to set them on fire. Amy had butterflies in her stomach, her heart racing, things she felt every single time she looked at Karma; but this time was different, as she looked at Karma, she felt this undying lust for her; Amy had never felt anything like it before. So, when she couldn't take it anymore, when all her feelings were getting too much, Amy leaned into kiss Karma. It caught Karma by surprise, even though somehow, subconsciously she'd been hoping Amy would do exactly that, kiss her; the way no had ever kissed her before.


	7. Chapter 7

"Woah." Karma said.

"I know." Amy said.

Amy and Karma just started at each other for a couple of moments, neither of them knowing what to say. Karma didn't know what any of this meant, she knew that she'd never felt this way about anyone else before but she didn't know what these feelings were, or what they were suppose to be.

Karma was the one to look away from Amy. Sensing the uncertainty in Karma's mind, Amy was the one to talk first.

"What are you thinking?" Amy asked, looking at Karma.

"I don't know what any of this means." Karma said, looking at Amy.

"Any of what?" Amy asked.

"This." Karma said, pointing at Amy and then herself. "I mean I don't know what all this means, what I'm feeling means." Karma continued.

"I know what you mean, I went through the same thing." Amy said.

Karma just looked at Amy, trying to feel reassured by Amy's words but they seemed to have no affect on Karma.

"I just need some time to figure things out." Karma said, getting up.

"Okay, take all the time you need." Amy said.

"I'll see you later." Karma said, rushing out of Amy's room.

Karma didn't want to talk about things; she didn't want to talk about her feelings, she didn't know what they meant and more than anything, she didn't know what she wanted them to mean. Karma loved Amy, she'd always loved her but she hadn't been in love with Amy; she didn't know whether or not she was in love with her now. But the thought of having to figure it all out scared Karma.

Amy didn't know what to say to Karma, she knew what it felt like to be confused but things weren't going to be the same for Karma; Amy and she had different circumstances. A part of Amy, wanted to stop Karma from leaving but the other part of Amy let her go, because she knew that if she stopped Karma, it would make Karma pull away even more.

Amy and Karma hadn't spoken all day. Amy was losing her mind, she wanted to call Karma so bad but she stopped herself; deciding to give Karma the space she'd promised.

Amy sat in bed, staring at her TV screen; thinking about how things just seemed to be going from bad to worse for her. It was as if, the universe was giving her exactly what she wanted, who she wanted and the second she would feel happy, finally content; the universe would snatch it right back.

Amy was lost in her thoughts, when her phone began ringing. Amy reached for the phone that lay on her bedside in one swift movement, trying to answer as fast as she could; hoping it was Karma.

"Hey." Shane said.

"Hi." Amy said, disappointed that it wasn't Karma.

"What happened?" Shane asked.

"A lot of shit." Amy said, wanting to tell Shane everything.

"Start from the beginning." Shane said.

"You know how my dad showed up? "Amy asked.

"Yeah." Shane said.

"I went for lunch with him, I thought we would bond only to find out he left me and mom, for some other woman, who he's now married to." Amy said.

"I'm sorry Amy." Shane said.

"It gets better." Amy said.

Shane didn't say anything, waiting for Amy to continue.

"Karma was trying to cheer me up by having a girl's night and while we were watching the movie, she and I kissed. After the kiss, she freaked out and left." Amy said.

"She's probably just confused." Shane said.

"I know she is and I get that and I'm ready to give her all the space she needs. But what if she doesn't feel the same way? I'm just going to go back to being heart broken." Amy said.

"But she could also feel the same way, right?" Shane said.

"Yeah but if she doesn't, I'm going to be so lost. I know what it feels like to kiss her and now that I know, now that I've been reminded, I don't think I can live without her." Amy said.

"You won't have to." Shane said.

"I really hope so." Amy said.

"You have to get your mind off all this drama. I'm having a couple of people over at my house tonight, you should come." Shane said.

"I don't know Shane, I'm not really in the mood for a party." Amy said.

"Just think about it." Shane said.

Amy hung up the phone and decided to go down to grab something to eat. She loved Shane for asking but she wasn't in the mood for a party. Amy walked into the kitchen to find her father standing there.

"What are you doing here?" Amy asked, getting upset.

"I wanted talk to you." Jack said, trying to walk toward Amy.

"I have nothing to say to you." Amy said, stepping away from Jack.

"Please at least give me a chance." Jack said.

"Why? You never gave me a chance." Amy said.

" I know and I want to fix my mistakes, all I'm asking for is a chance." Jack said, with a sad look on his face.

"Yeah well, I'm all out of chances." Amy said.

"Amy.." Jack said.

"You should leave." Amy said.

When Jack continued to stand where he was, Amy said," Fine, I'll leave."

"Amy!" Jack called after her.

Amy grabbed her jacket and headed to Shane's house. Maybe she was in the mood for a party after all.

"Hey, you came!" Shane said, hugging Amy.

"Yeah well, my dad over and refused to leave." Amy said, hugging Shane back.

"I'm sorry, I know it's hard." Shane said.

"Yeah, well, I need a drink." Amy said, eyeing the keg.

There was a thin, brunette with purple highlights filling her cup. When she saw Amy standing behind her, she gave her cup to Amy.

As the brunette filled another cup, Amy said, trying to shout over the music." Thanks."

"You're welcome." The brunette said with a smile.

Amy and the girl stared at each other for a couple of moments.

"I'm Regan." The girl said.


	8. Chapter 8

Amy didn't say anything for a minute, she didn't know if she should say something. She wanted to talk to Regan but then she couldn't get Karma off her mind. Amy took one last look at her phone, no new messages.

"I'm Amy." Amy said awkwardly.

"So, do you go to Hester?" Regan asked.

"Yeah, do you too?" Amy asked.

"Nah, I'm not in school." Regan said.

"Oh." Amy said.

"Yeah, I'm a DJ, I'm nineteen years old." Regan said, seeing the confusion and curiosity on Amy's face.

"Oh, that's really cool. How do you know Shane?" Amy asked.

"We have a ton of mutual friends, we met at this party and we hit it off." Regan said.

"Oh, you know that Shane is gay, right?" Amy asked. Amy thought Regan liked Shane.

"I know.I am too." Regan said, laughing.

"Oh." Amy said, embarrassed.

"So, are you waiting for your boyfriend or something?" Regan asked, not being able to find a better way to ask Amy.

"No no, there are no boyfriends around me right now." Amy said, awkwardly.

"How about girlfriends?" Regan asked.

"Hahah none of those either, not right now anyway." Amy said, blushing a little.

Amy continued to blush because of the look Regan was giving her; she didn't know how to react. Amy without even realizing it checked her phone again. It had now become somewhat of a nervous habit.

"Are you waiting on a call from someone?" Regan asked, looking at Amy.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm just waiting to hear from someone, we had this argument and I don't know what's going on anymore." Amy said, absent-mindedly.

"Well, if that doesn't work out.." Regan said, taking Amy's phone. "Call me."

Amy didn't know how to react, especially since someone had never flirted with Amy before, someone as hot as Regan. It was in those few seconds of the trance that Regan had left Amy in that Amy didn't think about Karma. Amy just watched Regan as she walked away.

Amy and Karma hadn't spoken for days and as much as Amy wanted to give Karma space, keeping this distance was killing Amy. Amy lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything that had happened over the past couple of days.

Amy was lost in her thoughts, when her phone began buzzing.

"Hey." Shane said.

"Hey." Amy said.

"What's wrong?" Shane asked.

"How could you tell something was wrong?" Amy asked, surprised by how well Shane knew her.

"It's one of my super powers." Shane said.

Amy lightly chuckled and how that was such a Shane thing to say.

"What's up?" Shane asked.

"I was just thinking." Amy said.

"About what?" Shane asked.

"Everything." Amy said.

"Have you spoken to your dad or Karma?" Shane asked.

"No." Amy said.

"Do you plan on talking to them?" Shane asked.

"I'm not going to talk to my dad, I'm so very done with him. As far as Karma is concerned, I'm giving her space." Amy said.

"Then why are you so sad?" Shane asked.

"Because I don't want to give Karma space, I want to be with Karma, all the bloody time." Amy said.

"Stop beating yourself up Amy. You've been moping over Karma for as long as I've known you. Maybe you should just move on, maybe this isn't the time for you and Karma." Shane said.

"How am I supposed to move on, it's not that easy." Amy said.

"I saw you talking to Regan." Shane said.

"Yeah, so?" Amy asked.

"Talk to her, she'll be more than enough reason for you to move on." Shane said.

Amy didn't say anything; she just took a deep breath.

"Just think about it okay? How long will you stay heart broken, Amy?" Shane asked.

"I'll think about it." Amy said, after a moment.

While Amy was talking to Shane, Farrah walked into her room.

"I have to go, I'll call you later." Amy said.

"Bye." Shane said, hanging up.

"Hi honey." Farrah said.

"Hi mom." Amy said.

"How are you doing?" Farrah asked, taking a seat in front of Amy on her bed.

"I'm fine." Amy said.

"You're dad called me.." Farrah began.

"Since when do you and dad talk?" Amy asked.

"Since I decided to let go of the past." Farrah said.

"How can you do that so easily?" Amy asked.

"It hasn't been easy Amy, it's been anything but that. But I just spent twelve years, hating him with every fiber of my being and I'm just so tired." Farrah said.

Amy didn't say anything; she just stared at her mother.

"Look Amy, I'm not telling you what to do, but all I'm saying is, we can't run away from the things we don't want to face." Farrah said, reaching for her daughter's hand.

"Why? That's what dad did." Amy said.

"And he's back now, he's here to face this. I get it Amy; I get why you don't want to let him in, because he hurt you and why would you want to make yourself vulnerable to that again? But trust me, letting someone in is good." Farrah said.

Amy looked down at her lap, not knowing what to say.

"Just think about it." Farrah said, kissing Amy on the head before leaving her room.

Amy sat in her room, alone. She was sick and tired of being hurt, of having this nagging pain in her chest. Why should she let him in? So he could leave again, go back to the kid he picked? She didn't need that; she had enough drama with Karma shutting her out. It was moments like these, when Amy sat down to analyze everything that she felt like her whole world was falling apart. As if, just her touch would destroy everything that mattered, that everything would eventually implode. It was moments like these when she needed Karma to snap her out of it; to tell her that she was being stupid, that everything was okay and everything would be because they were together and they'd get through it.

Amy was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice Karma standing in her doorway.

"Hey." Karma said, walking into Amy's room.

"Hi." Amy said.


	9. Chapter 9

Amy blinked to make sure it was really Karma; she couldn't believe her eyes. Amy had wished that Karma would just show up like she had but now that it had happened, she didn't know how to react. Her heart pounded in her chest, as if this very moment was going to decide the rest of her life.

"How have you been?" Amy asked, standing up.

"I've been fine. I'm sorry I haven't spoken to you, I just... I.." Karma said.

"I get it, I'm just glad you're here." Amy said.

Karma smiled at Amy.

"So.. Have you decided anything?" Amy asked, feeling like a child who'd just seen a butterfly, wanting so badly to hold the butterfly but knowing that even an attempt would make it fly away.

"Amy.. I.. I'm still very confused." Karma said.

"That's okay, you'll figure it all out, I went through the same thing." Amy said, walking toward Karma.

"But that's just the thing, I don't know if I want to figure all of it out right now." Karma said, taking a step back.

Amy didn't say anything; she just went back and sat on her bed.

Seeing the sadness on Amy's face, Karma said," But I don't want to lose you."

Amy didn't say anything for a second, "You won't lose me." She said, finally looking up at Karma.

"I just don't want this to come between us. I want to be able to go back to what we were, where we were." Karma said.

"But you'll have to deal with these feelings Karma, even if you decide you don't want to be with me, you'll still have to deal with them." Amy said, not being able to stop herself.

"I will, just not now. I Can't..." Karma said.

"Why? "Amy asked. She didn't know where any of this was coming from, she'd convinced herself to give Karma space, or so she'd thought.

"Because I'm not ready okay? It's all so scary." Karma said.

"I know it's scary but I'm here to help you through it." Amy said, cooling down.

"I know but I just can't.." Karma said, beginning to walk out.

"Karma.." Amy called after her.

"I'll call you later." Karma said walking out.

Amy punched her pillow in frustration. She knew this wasn't the way to get Karma to deal with her feelings but she couldn't help it. Having these feelings for Karma had been killing Amy for as long as she could remember and she just needed some clarity. One way or another, she needed to know.

Shane had been calling Amy all day but she wasn't really in a mood to talk, the only time she even checked her phone was to see if Karma had called her back. She'd texted and called Karma a million times, apologizing for pushing her.

"Hey." Shane said, walking into Amy's room.

"What are you doing here?" Amy asked, sitting up in her bed.

"I've been calling you all day, you could've just answered your phone." Shane said

"Yeah well, I don't really want to talk about things right now." Amy said.

"Let me guess, Karma?" Shane asked.

"She came over to talk and I pushed her to deal with her feelings and I knew it was wrong and now she's gone." Amy said.

"I know you'll hate me for saying this, but maybe you should let her go." Shane said.

"Yeah well, it's easier said than done." Amy said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm just saying, she isn't here, that's the point. How many days do you want to spend, crying in bed? Get out of the house, you're only young once." Shane said.

"I'm fine spending my youth like this if it cant' be with Karma." Amy said.

"Oh god, we've been over this before. Amy, Karma's straight, for now anyway and until she figures out otherwise, you're going to have to move on, whether you like it or not." Shane said.

"But I know she felt the same way I did, when we kissed." Amy said.

"But she's straight or confused and she's not going to wake up tomorrow morning having figured it all out. You of all people know how frightening feelings can be and the last thing she needs is somebody pushing her out of the closet." Shane said.

"So what am I suppose to do?" Amy asked.

"You're supposed to go out and party with me." Shane said.

"I'm serious, Shane." Amy said.

"So am I. Get dressed, we're going out." Shane said.

"But.." Amy began.

"If Karma's going to come back, then she can wait an hour or two, god knows you've waited longer." Shane said, cutting Amy off.

Amy made a face at Shane that was both confused and kind of angry but also amused and kind of embarrassed.

"Go." Shane said, lightly pushing Amy off the bed.

Amy groaned and went to get dressed. She came out a couple of minutes later in a knee length dress, with black and white checks on it, her hair flowing down her shoulders.

"You clean up nice." Shane said, looking Amy up and down.

Amy just blushed, she never knew how to react to compliments.

No matter how much Amy tried, she couldn't hide the hesitation that clearly reflected on her face as she reached for her phone.

"This is what you need." Shane said, grabbing Amy's phone before she could off her bedside table.

"Let's go." Shane said, before Amy could say anything.

With that, they were off. When they reached, Amy and Shane slowly walked into the grungy club that was completely filled with people; all of who seemed to be grinding against each other.

"Tell me again, how this is a good idea." Amy said, screaming over the music.

"It is, trust me." Shane said.

"How do you even know about this place, anyway?" Amy asked.

"A friend of mine works here." Shane said, looking up at the DJ booth.

Amy followed Shane's gaze to find Regan waving at the two of them.

"So this is why, it's a good idea?" Amy asked, getting a little upset.

"You need this. "Shane said.

"No, I need Karma." Amy said.

"Well, look around, can you see Karma anywhere?" Shane said.

"Damn it Shane!" Amy began but stopped because they'd reached the DJ's booth.

"Hey guys." Regan said, with a smile.

"Hey." Shane said, giving Regan a quick hug.

"Hey." Amy said, awkwardly, as Regan checked her out.

"Oh look, a bar. I'm so parched, I'll see you guys later." Shane said.

Regan and Amy both laughed at how lame that sounded.

"So? That fight get resolved?" Regan asked.

"What fight?" Amy asked, confused.

"The one that had you staring at your phone like a hawk the whole night." Regan said.

"Nah, it just got a lot worse." Amy said.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Regan said.

"Yeah." Amy said.

"Maybe whatever happens, happens for the best." Regan said, smiling at Amy.

Amy smiled back, she didn't know why but the way Regan looked at her, gave Amy butterflies.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Regan asked.

"What about your job?" Amy asked.

"My set's almost up. There's ice cream parlor down the street, do you want to go?" Regan asked.

Amy checked her phone one last time and said, "Sure, why not?"

Maybe she shouldn't be waiting for Karma, maybe she needs to find her own happy ending, Amy thought.

As Regan and Amy walked out of the club, Shane gave them both a knowing smile as he danced with some random guy. Amy's phone buzzed but she couldn't hear it over the music.

"I'm sorry, I want to talk. Can we meet? I miss you." Karma's text read as it flashed on Amy's screen.


	10. Chapter 10

Amy didn't want to think about Karma anymore, she was tired; tired of trying, tired of waiting and so she let go. She decided to enjoy the time she had with Regan, who just seemed like so much fun and Amy could use some fun.

"Hey, you haven't checked your phone all night! Good for you." Regan said, taking a bite of her ice cream.

"Yeah well, I could use a night that's away from all of this anyway." Amy said, taking a bite of her ice cream, but dropped some on her shirt.

"So what's the deal with all this anyway?" Regan asked, giving Amy a few tissues.

"Um, thanks." Amy said, wiping her shirt and then looking at Regan nervously, not knowing where to start.

"It's okay if you don't want to talking about it." Regan said, gauging Amy's hesitance.

"It's not that, I just don't know how to explain it to you. It's just so much drama, I'm not sure you'd want to hear all of it." Amy said.

"Try me." Regan said.

Amy took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to say. "Have you ever been so in love with someone, so infatuated that you couldn't stop yourself from thinking about them?"

"Yeah." Regan said.

"Well, that's how I felt about my best friend, Karma. I don't know, we had so much drama last year and we kissed and all of this feelings came rushing back, just when I thought they were starting to disappear." Amy said.

"Does she feel the same way?" Regan asked. She didn't like where all this was going, she was really starting to like Amy.

"That's just the thing, she's confused and I've been feeling like this for so long that, I just.. I don't know if I want to feel like this anymore." Amy said.

"Feel like what?" Regan asked.

"Heartbroken." Amy said.

"You guys seem to have a lot of history." Regan said, looking anywhere but at Amy.

"Yeah, I mean.." Amy began but stopped seeing Regan's expressions. "I've freaked you out, haven't I?" Amy asked.

"No, it's just that I like you, Amy. I do and I want to be with you but I don't want to come in the middle of anything." Regan said.

"You aren't, I just need someone like you in my life right now." Amy said.

"What does that even mean?" Regan asked.

"It means, I need someone how helps me forget everything." Amy said.

"So, a distraction?" Regan asked, getting a little upset.

"No, someone who gives me hopes of something better, something easier." Amy said.

Regan didn't say anything but Amy could see her melt at what Amy had said.

"Look, maybe we should just see where this goes, how things play out." Amy said.

Regan took a moment and then said, "Sounds good."

Regan and Amy finished their ice creams, while continuing to find out more about each other. They knew it was very complicated but they wanted to give it a try anyway. Regan dropped Amy home.

"I'll call you." Regan said.

"I'd like that." Amy said, with a smile as she got out of the car.

Amy couldn't help but smile, she hadn't thought of Karma all night, she'd for a moment forgotten the pain that had for so long felt like a part of her. As she entered the house, she checked her phone to find Karma's text and it was if all her pain, confusion and love associated with Karma came rushing back.

"Crap." Amy said, as she re-read the text. She quickly texted Karma back and as she reached her room, she heard someone's phone buzz. Amy looked up from her phone, to find Karma sitting on her bed.

"Hey." Karma said.

"Hey." Amy said, walking into her room.

"You hadn't answered my text and I got worried, so I thought I'd just drop by." Karma said.

"I was out with Shane, he thought I needed to get out." Amy said, taking off her jacket and putting it on the chair by her desk

"How was your night?" Karma asked, as Amy took a seat next to her.

"Okay, I guess." Amy said.

"That's good." Karma said.

"Karma.." Amy began.

"I know this has been hard for you. I know that this isn't fair to you but.." Karma said.

"Has something changed? Are you sure now?" Amy asked.

"I'm not, I'm just.. I need you, Amy. I need you to be patient with me." Karma said.

Amy didn't say anything for a second, but then as a surge of adrenaline pumped through her, she looked up at Karma and asked," Is there even the smallest chance that you might love me the way I love you?

"Amy.." Karma said.

"Just tell me, because it's killing me Karma. I need to know if we have a chance or not because if we do, I'll spend the rest of my life waiting for you but if we don't, I don't know how long I can live like this." Amy said.

"Amy.." Karma began but was interrupted by Farrah standing in Amy's doorway.

"Amy, could you come down for a second? Hi Karma." Farrah said, standing in the doorway.

"Hi." Karma said, trying to not sound like she was about to cry.

"I'll be down in a minute." Amy said.

"Could you come now? There's someone here to meet you." Farrah said.

Amy looked at Karma, who looked away. Amy didn't say anything and followed her mother. She was dying to know what Karma was going to say but she knew her mother was not going to let her go until she came with her.

Amy walked into the kitchen, to find Jack standing there.

"Oh my god, I'm not doing this again." Amy said.

"Just give me a chance." Jack said.

"I don't need to hear anything you have to say." Amy said.

"I think you should hear this, Amy." Farrah said.

Amy gave her mother a look and then turned to jack, crossing her arms.

"I didn't tell you something when I told you the story of why I left." Jack said.

"What? Do you have another wife, we don't know about." Amy said.

"No." Jack said, taking a deep breath. "I had a drug problem."

"What?" Amy asked, her arms covered in Goosebumps.

"Before you were born, I became friends with the wrong people and I started doing drugs. It was nothing at first but by the time you were two, it became serious. I just lost it one day and left." Jack said.

"Why didn't either of you tell me this earlier?" Amy asked, looking at Jack and then Farrah.

"Your mom didn't tell you because I asked her not to. I didn't know how you'd feel about it and I didn't want anything to get in the way of us getting to know each other." Jack said.

"Do you still use?" Amy asked.

"No, I'm four years sober. I just thought that I've been sober long enough to not add any problems in your life. I thought this was the right time to ask for a chance." Jack said.

Amy just stood there, trying to process what all this meant, how she felt about all of it. She wondered how everything had come to this; she'd finally found her dad, only to find that he was a drug addict. Karma may or may not have feelings for her and Amy had no idea how she felt about Karma or Regan. Amy just wanted to run and never stop running.


	11. Chapter 11

Amy didn't know how to stop her life from falling apart. She'd asked Jack for sometime to think through things and after a couple of days, when she finally felt ready; they went for lunch together.

"So.." Jack said, nervously looking at Amy.

"I just.. I need to know something's." Amy said.

"Sure, whatever you want." Jack said.

"How did you even meet your wife?" Amy asked.

"She ran in the same circles as me and then she od'ed once and so she decided to clean up her act. I used for a while but then when she got pregnant, she helped send me to rehab so I could be a good father to our child." Jack said.

Amy didn't say anything; she stared at the napkin in her lap, not wanting to look at Jack.

"Please say something." Jack said.

"I don't even know what to say." Amy said.

"Say anything, just say something." Jack said, almost pleading.

"I don't know what to say, you cleaned up your act for your other kid, but you couldn't do it for me?" Amy asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"I wasn't in my senses, okay. I relapsed a couple of years after that, I just recently got my life back together and not being there for you, is my biggest regret." Jack said.

Amy tried to control the anger she was feeling but with the way things were, she just couldn't keep any of it in. "You know what sucks? Is that you never even tried, I spent so long wondering about you, hoping and praying that one day you'd just show up and all this would've been a horrible dream."

"I know I've caused you and your mother a lot of pain and I know I don't deserve another chance.." Jack said.

"You're right, you don't deserve another chance." Amy said, interrupting Jack.

Jack took a deep breath, choosing his words carefully. "But I was hoping that you'd give me a chance anyway."

"Why should I do that? So you can hurt me again? Leave again?" Amy asked.

"Because I know that I missed your life, that you had go through things without a father but I don't want you to go through the rest of your life without one, the way I don't want to go through the rest of my life without a daughter." Jack said.

"What if you leave again? Then what? You're life will go back to normal but my life will never be the same again." Amy said.

"I won't leave." Jack said.

"The same way you didn't leave earlier?" Amy asked.

"I'm trying to fix my mistakes, Amy." Jack said.

"Yeah well, you're mistakes ruined my life and I have enough crap going on, to let you try to fix anything." Amy said.

"Amy, come on." Jack said.

"It's all too much. I can't deal with this right now." Amy said.

"Don't walk out on me again, please." Jack said, a lump forming in his throat.

"I'll call you. I just need some space, my head is all over the place. "Amy said, taking a deep breath.

"I'll be waiting." Jack said.

Amy gave Jack a half smile and left. Jack sat there, wondering if he'd ever get a chance to make up for lost time, fix what he knew he'd broken.

Amy just kept trying to resist the urge to run away, just find a way to forget the past couple of months. She hadn't spoken to Karma, since that night; and she wasn't even sure that she wanted to speak to her.

Amy pulled out her phone from her pocket and looked through her contact list.

"Do you wanna hang out?" Amy texted Regan.

"Sure, meet me at the club in half an hour?" Regan replied, within a minute.

"See you there." Amy texted Regan.

This was it; this was Amy's escape. She just wanted to run away and she knew she couldn't literally run away and so she decided to run away from her fears, her thoughts; she was done thinking.

"Hey." Amy said, climbing into Regan's DJ booth.

"Hey, what's going on?" Regan asked.

"I just, I wanted a break, so I thought I'd come see you." Amy said.

Regan smiled and said, "I'm done in the next ten, where do you want to go?"

"I was hoping we could stay here and have a couple of drinks." Amy said, hesitantly, something inside of her knew this was a bad idea but she just wanted so badly to not think about things that she decided to go with it.

Regan raised an eyebrow at Amy. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Yeah." Amy said, trying to sound sure.

"I never pegged you for a drinker." Regan said.

"I'm not, I just really need a drink." Amy said.

"Okay, then." Regan said.

Once Regan was done with her set, Amy and she headed to the bar. Regan thought Amy would have a shot of tequila, maybe two and be done but once she'd reached her fourth; Regan decided to stop her.

"What's going on with you, Amy?" Regan asked.

"Nothing." Amy said, gesturing the bartender for another drink, who looked at Regan and she nodded at him, as if to say no.

"Come on, talk to me," Regan said.

"That's just it, I don't want to talk about anything." Amy said.

"Come on." Regan said.

"I don't want to talk about it." Amy said.

"Then let's get you home." Regan said.

"Regan!" Amy said, in a whiny tone.

"I don't know what's going on with you, but I'm sure drinking is not the answer. I'm cutting you off and I'm taking you home. "Regan said.

Before Amy could protest, Regan was already holding her by the arm and taking her out of the club. Neither of them said anything on the ride home.

As Amy got out of the car, Regan said, "It's going to be okay, whatever it is."

Amy turned around to look at Regan and smiled at her sadly.

Amy walked into her room and quickly turned back, as if realizing something. She didn't even thinking about it and she was at Karma's house. Karma had left her five messages.

"Hey." Amy said, walking into Karma's room.

"Hey, I've been trying to reach you." Karma said, standing up from her bed.

"I know, I just saw your messages." Amy said.

"So.."Karma said.

"So, you never answered my question." Amy said.

"The truth is, I don't know the answer, myself." Karma said.

Amy thought for a couple moments and then took a deep breath. "I need a break."

"What?" Karma asked.

"I need a break and you need space." Amy said.

"No, I don't." Karma said.

"Yes, you do. You deserve to be supported and not confused further, I of all people know that but I'm too close to this, too in love with you to be a friend right now." Amy said.

"Are you really ending this?" Karma asked, tears falling down her cheeks.

"No, I'm not. I'm just giving you the space, you know you deserve." Amy said.

"Don't do this, Amy." Karma said.

"I'm not doing anything and I'm not going anywhere and I'm always here when you need me, I'm just done pushing you." Amy said.

"Amy.." Karma said.

"I'm still right here." Amy said.

Karma didn't say anything, what could she say? Amy was done and she couldn't blame her. Karma couldn't let things end with Amy but she also couldn't lie about how she felt. Karma knew that there was a chance she maybe in love Amy but she didn't want to get Amy's hopes up, before she was sure. So Karma didn't say anything, letting Amy go. Maybe it was what both of needed. Who was Karma kidding? This was already killing her.


	12. Chapter 12

Amy was completely lost. She'd lost her best friend; she didn't know how to face Regan or her mother. Amy just wanted a break, a break she knew she'd never get.

Amy lay on her bed, her phone in her hand. She scrolled through her phone, looking at her contacts. She stopped at Jack's name. She still hadn't decided what she wanted to do, she was about to hit dial, when Shane walked in.

"Hey stranger." Shane said.

"Hey." Amy said.

"Where have you been?" Shane asked, taking a seat next to Amy on her bed.

"Here, where will I go?" Amy asked.

"What's wrong?" Shane asked.

"Why do you think something's wrong?" Amy asked.

"Because you have that, something's bothering me but I won't say it, look on your face." Shane said.

"I don't have any such look." Amy said, defensively.

"You do." Shane said.

"Fine, I've just been on the down low lately." Amy said.

"Why?" Shane asked.

"I've just got stuff going on." Amy said, hoping Shane wouldn't ask any more questions.

"What stuff?" Shane asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." Amy said.

"Okay then, go get dressed." Shane said.

"Why?" Amy asked.

"Because you and I are going out." Shane said.

"I'm not in the mood for going out." Amy said.

"I don't care, enough of you being sad and locked up. We're going out and we're going to have fun." Shane said.

"Shane.." Amy began.

"Get dressed." Shane said, interrupting Amy and pushing her off the bed.

Amy stood up and gave Shane a look but she knew there was no way she could win this, so she went to get dressed. Within a few minutes, Amy came out wearing a white top and black jeans.

Shane looked Amy up and down and gave her a look of approval to which Amy smiled shyly and then they were off.

Amy and Shane walked into the club where Regan worked. Amy was under the impression that it was Thursday and was happy that Regan didn't work at the club on Thursday's and so Amy wouldn't have to face her and explain everything to Shane.

Amy looked around and as her eyes fell on the DJ booth, she saw Regan standing there, playing her set.

"What is Regan doing here? Today's Thursday, she doesn't play on Thursdays." Amy said.

"Today's Friday, genius." Shane said.

"Crap." Amy said.

"What's the problem, anyway? I thought you and Regan hit it off." Shane said.

"We did and then I got drunk and told her about Karma and me and I think she just got very freaked out." Amy said.

"Wow." Shane said.

"Yeah." Amy said.

"Maybe you should just go and speak to her." Shane said.

"How will that help?" Amy asked.

"Well you're going to have to, because she's waving at us." Shane said, waving at Regan.

Amy turned to follow Shane's gaze. Amy smiled at Regan embarrassedly. Shane nudged Amy and she gave Shane a look, who pushed her forward. Amy took a deep breath and began walking toward the booth. How long was she going to keep running away? Maybe dealing with Regan now, was a good idea. That's what Amy tried to tell herself, anyway.

"Hey." Amy said.

"Hey." Regan said.

"Look, I'm sorry about the other night." Amy said.

"It's okay." Regan said, with a sincere smile.

Amy smiled, relieved by Regan's reaction.

"I'm glad that you came by, I've been meaning to talk to you about us." Regan said.

Amy took a deep breath, she had a bad feeling.

"Okay, what's up?" Amy asked.

"I've just been thinking about us and everything that's going on with you. Maybe we shouldn't start anything up right now." Regan said.

"Regan.." Amy said.

Regan looked at Amy but she didn't say anything, Amy was at a loss of words.

"Look, you and Karma have so much history and it's clearly not resolved and I don't want to come in the middle of anything." Regan said.

"It's not that. Things are fine with Karma and me." Amy blurted out.

"So can you honestly tell me that things are resolved between you and Karma?" Regan asked.

Amy tried her level best to speak, to lie, to somehow save this thing she and Regan had going but she didn't say anything, she just stood there, looking at Regan.

"Exactly. Look I want us to be friends and who knows, someday we might be more than that. I just want to give us a real chance and I don't think we can do that right now." Regan said.

"I get it." Amy said.

Regan and Amy spoke for a bit, after which Amy went back to Shane. Shane was talking to a tall, blonde boy with a nice smile. Amy pulled Shane aside and took the drink from his hand and gulped it down.

"What happened?" Shane asked.

"Regan just told me, she doesn't want to be with me." Amy said.

"Were you guys even together?" Shane asked.

"Yeah, maybe, I don't know." Amy said.

"So why are you upset?" Shane asked.

"Because we're never going to be together now. Let's get out of here." Amy said, walking out of the club.

"What's going on with you Amy?" Shane asked, as he and Amy got into Shane's car.

"Nothing." Amy said.

"Come on, talk to me." Shane said.

"It's not that easy." Amy said.

"Try me." Shane said, turning on the car.

"Everything is falling apart." Amy said.

"What is falling apart?" Shane asked, as he started driving toward no place in particular.

"My dad's a drug addict, his wife helped him sober up and I have a step brother/ sister. Karma is confused and I asked for some space." Amy blurted out, before she could stop herself. The second she said all these things; she already began to feel lighter.

"Wow. Okay, so, are you talking to your dad?" Shane asked, looking at Amy and then the road.

"No, I keep thinking about it but something keeps on stopping me." Amy said.

"What keeps stopping you?" Shane asked.

"I just don't know if this is worth it. He'll just end up leaving again." Amy said.

"You can't know that." Amy said.

"But I can. This is just one of those things. He'll try for a couple of days and go back to his old life." Amy said.

"Why did you ask Karma for a break?" Shane asked.

"Because she's confused and I'm not. I mean I know how frightening it is to be confused, I know but every time I look at her, all my best friend instincts disappear and I just want to grab her and kiss her. I know its selfish to leave when she needs me but I don't think I'll ever look at her and not get butterflies in my stomach and when she talks to me, I just look at her and think god I love her so much and I'm just so afraid that every time Karma tells me she loves me, all I'll hear in my head is going to be but not like that." Amy said, tears falling down her cheeks. She was crying and she couldn't stop, she'd been hurting for so long. She steadied herself and spoke between sobs. "And I wish so much that I didn't feel like this, that I could have being best friends with her be enough, but it's not. I wish I could go back and just never fall in love with her. I wish I could just fall in love with someone like Regan, I'm sure she could give me butterflies some day. I've been wanting to run away, just disappear for the past couple of days but every moment I felt like that, every moment I wanted to run away, I just wanted to run away to Karma and I don't know what to do with that."

Shane didn't say anything at first, the impact of Amy's words all around them.

"I'm sorry I haven't been there, that you've had to go through all this alone. I know it sucks that you love Karma and she doesn't feel the same way. But she could and the thing is that you can't do anything about you and her but you can still fix things with your dad. You rather regret trying and getting hurt than never trying at all. What if's are a bitch." Shane said.

Amy looked over at Shane, who was now looking at her.

"Thank you." Amy said, smiling through her tears.

"Always." Shane said, with a smile.

Neither of them said anything, they kept driving around; just being together, giving them comfort they needed.


	13. Chapter 13

Amy walked into her house, a smile on her face. She walked into her kitchen to grab a bottle of water, only to find Jack waiting by the counter.

"Oh god, I'm not really in the mood to argue right now." Amy said.

"I don't want to argue with you either." Jack said.

"What are you doing here?" Amy asked.

"I just want to talk." Jack said walking toward Amy.

"I told you, I need some time." Amy said.

"I know but I couldn't help it." Jack said.

"Why? Are you in a hurry to go somewhere?" Amy asked and regretted it the second the words left her mouth. She wanted things to get better between them but her insecurities kept seeping in.

Jack didn't say anything, the hurt clearly showing on his face.

"I'm sorry." Amy said.

"It's okay." Jack said.

"I don't know why.." Amy said, but trailed off.

Jack could smell alcohol on Amy's breath. "Are you drunk?"

"What? No." Amy said.

"You had alcohol on your breath, the other night too." Jack said.

"So?" Amy asked defensively.

"I just, I know that you have a lot going on and all of that's because of me but alcohol is not the answer, Amy." Jack said, backing off a little.

"I know." Amy said, curtly.

"I'm fine if you never listen to me about anything else, but just don't make my mistakes." Jack said.

"I'm not, I had a drink but I'm not drunk." Amy said.

Jack nodded, relieved somehow, not wanting to push the matter.

Amy just looked at Jack for a moment and before she even thought about it, she hugged him.

"What was that for?" Jack asked, not knowing how to react, confused by Amy's mixed signals.

"For making me feel like I finally have a father." Amy said, into Jack's jacket.

Jack smiled and hugged Amy back. He felt guilty about the pain he'd caused Amy, but he was ready to do anything to fix his mistakes.

Amy and Jack smiled at each other awkwardly as they pulled away and Amy headed to her room.

"Hey, Amy?" Jack called out after her.

"Yeah?" Amy said, turning back.

"Do you want to have breakfast with me tomorrow?" Jack asked.

"I'd like that." Amy said with a smile and headed toward her room.

Shane was right, Amy could control the outcome of her relationship with her father. It wasn't going to be easy and it would take a lot out of her to trust him but she was hoping that finally having a father would be worth the wait.

Amy overslept the next morning and got ready in a rush, picking up the first thing she found in her closet.

Jack sat there at the diner, looking around, hoping that Amy would show up. He was afraid that, Amy might have changed her mind; deciding it was all too much.

"Hey, I'm so sorry I'm late." Amy said, taking a seat in front of Jack.

"No, it's fine, I was starting to think that, you weren't going to show." Jack said.

"I overslept." Amy said embarrassedly.

Jack smiled at Amy. Jack and Amy looked through the menu and placed their orders. After a bit of small talk, Jack couldn't help but ask Amy, what was bothering her.

"What's on your mind?" Jack asked.

"What do you mean?" Amy asked, confused.

"You seem preoccupied." Jack said.

"No, it's nothing." Amy said.

Jack looked a little disappointed by how Amy didn't say much.

"I just, I'm in a weird place with my best friend, Karma." Amy said, trying to make up for the obvious disappointment Jack was feeling.

"Tell me about it." Jack said.

"Oh, it's a long story, with a ton of drama. I don't think you'd be interested." Amy said, not wanting to retell the story, she'd been telling everyone.

"Try me." Jack said.

"Okay so, Karma and I have been best friends since kindergarten. Last year, we pretended to be gay to be popular but I ended up realizing I was gay." Amy paused to see Jack's expressions, which hadn't changed. "Karma didn't feel the same way but recently we kissed and now she's confused about how she feels about me and after a while I couldn't do it anymore, wait around her for to decide, so I asked her for some space."

"So, you miss her, huh?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, so much. But I don't know what to do." Amy said.

"I don't know if I'm the right person to be giving advice or even if you'd want my advice but.." Jack said.

"I actually would love some advice." Amy said, smiling as she took a bite of her pancakes.

Jack smiled, relieved by how responsive Amy was being to him. "In my experience, you should always make amends, even if it hurts because if you lose someone because you didn't try, it becomes one of your biggest regrets."

Amy didn't say anything, trying to understand what Jack was saying.

"But I guess, it's different for different people and you know this thing with Karma better than anyone." Jack said, afraid that he'd said something wrong.

"That's actually really good advice, thank you. I really needed that." Amy said, smiling.

Jack smiled his biggest smile. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this happy, he'd wanted this for so long; just to be with his daughter, something most people took for granted, a simple meal with your child; but it was something that meant everything to Jack.

"Thank you, for today. I had a really good time." Amy said, smiling.

"Thank you, for giving a chance." Jack said, smiling, a lump forming in his throat.

Jack and Amy hugged, saying so much without saying anything at all.

Amy knew what she had to do now, so once she and Jack had parted ways, she headed over to Karma's house.

"Hey." Amy said, walking into Karma's room.

"Hey." Karma said, a little surprised to see Amy.

"I'm sorry." Amy said.

"For what?" Karma asked, standing up and walking toward Amy.

"For taking you for granted, for not being a good friend; for so many things." Amy said.

"No, I'm sorry. I was asking too much out of you." Karma said, tears falling down her eyes.

"If you can't tell me things, who will you tell them to. I'm your best friend." Amy said, hugging Karma; tears now falling down her eyes as well.

"I've missed you so much." Karma said, talking into Amy's shoulder.

"I've missed you too." Amy said.

They both stood like that, hugging each other; their way of apologizing, their of way of reconnecting. They didn't know what lay ahead for them, but they knew that the only way they'd get through it was, together.


	14. Chapter 14

Things had finally started looking up Amy. She and Jack had started working on their issues, their relationship wasn't perfect or anything but at least there was now a relationship to work on. Karma and Amy were back to being Karma and Amy, things were awkward at times but they'd learnt to move past those moments of doubts and uncertainty to the moments of happiness and friendship.

Amy and Karma decided to have a movies night, just like old times. They were going to binge watch John Hughes movies, tonight.

"What do you want to start with?" Amy asked.

"What do we have?" Karma asked, eating popcorn as she took a seat on Amy's bed.

"Pretty in Pink or Sixteen Candles?" Amy asked, holding up DVDs of both the movies.

"Um.. Sixteen Candles." Karma said.

"That's what I was thinking." Amy said, getting off the bed to set the movie up. As Amy headed toward the DVD player, when her phone buzzed. She picked up the phone and smiled to herself when she saw Regan's name flash on the screen. Amy replied and went back to setting up the movie but was interrupted within a second by another text.

"Who do you keep texting?" Karma asked.

"Regan." Amy said, without looking up from her phone. She was so preoccupied with replying to Regan, that Amy didn't even see the confused look on Karma's face.

"Whose Regan?" Karma asked, confused.

"Oh, she's just this girl who I met at Shane's house." Amy said.

"You've never mentioned her." Karma said, feeling a little left out.

"Yeah I know but she and I've gotten close only now." Amy said, as she finished setting up the movie.

"How close, are you guys?" Karma asked, trying to see as casual as possible.

Amy gave Karma a look as she walked toward the bed. "She's a friend."

"Do you like her?" Karma asked, not knowing why she'd ask something like that but she couldn't help herself.

"How does that matter?" Amy said, picking up the remote to start the movie. She wasn't in the mood to have this conversation; she just wanted to watch the movie.

"I just, I just want to know." Karma said.

"I don't know." Amy said,

"What you mean, you don't know?" Karma asked.

"I mean that, we could've been something but with everything with my dad, I just wasn't ready." Amy said.

"Are you ready now?" Karma asked.

"Yeah, maybe. I don't know." Amy said, picking up the remote again.

Karma tried protesting but before she could, Amy played the movie.

Karma'd always been curious but she didn't know why she needed to know everything that was going on between Amy and Regan so badly. Maybe Karma just wanted to know that Amy would still confide in her or maybe it was because she wasn't used to having people be in Amy's life, who she didn't know anything about. Karma chose not to push the topic and instead just went on with her movie marathon, trying to enjoy it as best as she could.

Amy and Shane met for coffee the next day, insistent on not losing touch again.

"So, how are things with you and your dad?" Shane asked.

"They're pretty great actually. He gave me some advice about Karma." Amy said.

"Wow, what'd he say?" Shane asked, leaning a little closer to hear what Amy had to say.

"He told me, he regretted the things and the people he let go off too easily and that I shouldn't make the same mistake." Amy said.

"That's actually pretty great advice." Shane said, leaning back into his chair as he took a sip of his coffee.

"This was after her thought I'd become an alcoholic." Amy said.

"What?" Shane asked, shocked.

"Apparently I'd been smelling of booze for a couple of nights and he thought that I'd taken to drinking to solve my problems." Amy said.

"Haha, what did you say then?" Shane asked.

"I told him, I wasn't drunk and that I wasn't an alcoholic." Amy said.

"Did he believe you?" Shane asked.

"I hope so." Amy said, as her phone buzzed for the fifth time.

"Who keeps texting you?" Shane asked.

"Huh? Regan." Amy said, looking up from her phone for a second and then looking back at her phone.

"Are you guys together now?" Shane asked, getting excited.

"What? No." Amy said, smiling as she replied to Regan's text.

"Do you want to be?" Shane asked.

"I do, I just don't know if she wants to." Amy said.

"Have you spoken to her about it?" Shane asked.

"No, what's the point?" Amy asked.

"You'll never know, until you ask. She may feel the same way." Shane said.

"That's what you said about Karma." Amy said.

"I'm sure I'm right this time." Shane said.

"How?" Amy asked.

"For one, I know for sure that Regan's gay." Shane said.

Amy shot him a weird look.

"Just try, okay?" Shane said.

Amy thought about it for a moment and said, "You know what, I might. I'm meeting her tonight, maybe this is the right time."

"Yay." Shane said, clapping his hands together.

Amy just rolled her eyes, even though she was getting pretty excited herself. Amy and Shane continued talking for an hour or two and then Shane dropped her off at the club where Regan works.

Amy took a deep breath and walked into the club. She decided to not overthink tonight, things would play out the way they would, and she would just go with the flow. In a robotic fashion, Amy climbed into Regan's dj booth.

"Hey, you ready to go?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, let me just grab my stuff." Regan said, grabbing her bag.

Amy and Regan had decided to go to that ice cream parlor they'd gone to the other night.

"So, how have you been?" Regan asked, taking a bite of her ice cream.

"Good, so much better." Amy said.

"Are you finally ready to talk about what was going on?" Regan asked.

Amy took a deep breath and said,"Yeah."

"It's okay, if you don't want to." Regan said.

"No, its okay. The reason why I was so screwed up was because, my dad who abandoned me when I was two years old, came back to my life. He wants to get to know me and for a while I struggled with whether or not, I wanted to know him. He told me, he was drug addict and his wife got him sober, that he wasn't in his senses when he left. Turns out, I do want to know him and I know, I'll regret it if I don't even try. Plus, things with Karma have been so turbulent but now we're finally fine and we're back to being best friends, that's it, nothing more." Amy said.

"Wow." Regan said.

"Yeah, so now you know why, I was so screwed up. None of it was because of you, I got through so much of it, because of you." Amy said.

"That must have been very hard for you, I'm sorry." Regan said.

"Thanks, but you really helped and I'm past all of it." Amy said.

"I'm glad." Regan said, with a smile that made Amy's heart race.

Amy just stared at Regan for a couple of moments, not saying a word.

"What?" Regan asked, getting a little embarrassed.

"Nothing." Amy said, with a smile.

"Come on, tell me. Do I have ice cream on my nose or something?" Regan asked, wiping her nose.

"Haha, no, you're perfect." Amy said, smiling.

Regan smiled, blushing a little.

Amy took a deep breath. "And I wish I hadn't screwed up and ruined everything we could be."

"You didn't ruin anything. "Regan said.

There was a moment of silence between the two of them, a kind of anticipation, an excitement that neither of them could define.

Regan slowly leaned over the table and kissed Amy. A short, slow kiss but the kind of kiss that a set a bunch of butterflies free in Amy's stomach. Amy'd been imagining this moment for a couple of weeks now, but the actual moment was so much better, so much more passionate, and so much more hopeful.


	15. Chapter 15

Amy and Regan had been dating for a couple of weeks now and things had begun to get serious. She was always at Amy's house but Amy hadn't introduced Regan to her parents yet. Amy really wanted to but she was afraid of how her mother would react.

Regan and Amy were leaving for Shane's house, when Amy's mom and dad walked in.

"Hi." Jack said, walking in.

"Hey dad, what are you doing here?" Amy asked.

"I was coming by to meet you, but I guess you have other plans." Jack said, looking at Regan and then at Amy.

Amy smiled embarrassedly.

"Hi, I'm Jack." Jack said, with a smile, extending his hand to shake Regan's.

"Regan." Regan said, smiling as she shook Jack's hand.

Amy looked at her mother awkwardly. She knew there would come a time when she'd have to introduce Regan and Farrah but she didn't really know what Regan and she were. Amy took a deep breath and decided to take the plunge of calling Regan her girlfriend, she didn't want Regan to feel like she wasn't sure about them being together.

"Mom, this is Regan. My girlfriend." Amy said, smiling at Regan.

Farrah looked at Amy for a moment and then turned to Regan. "It's great to meet you Regan, I'm Farrah."

Amy was a little taken aback by how nice her mother was being, maybe their relationship had evolved after all.

"It's great to meet you too." Regan said with a warm smile.

"You should stay for dinner sometime." Farrah said, as Regan and Amy began toward the door.

"I would love to." Regan said, as she and Amy left.

Once Amy and Regan were in the car, Regan looked over at Amy with a smile on her face.

"What?" Amy asked, smiling at Regan.

"I think that went well." Regan said.

"I do too. And I hope the whole girlfriend bit didn't freak you out. I know we haven't had that conversation but.." Amy began.

"You are my girlfriend, Amy." Regan said with a smile on her face.

"Okay then." Amy said with a huge smile on her face.

"So, your dad seems nice." Regan said.

"He is, we've started to get to know each other and I'm really glad." Amy said.

"Have you met his family?" Regan asked.

"Not yet." Amy said.

"Do you want to?" Regan asked.

"I think I do, but every time the topic comes up, one of us ends up changing it. I think it's because we're both too afraid of screwing up our relationship." Amy said.

"I'm sure, it'll be fine." Regan said.

Regan and Amy spent the afternoon with Shane, watching movies and gossiping.

Amy came back home late in the evening. She walked into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, when her phone began ringing.

"Hey dad." Amy said.

"Hey Amy, are you home?" Jack asked.

"Yeah I just came back, I'm sorry we couldn't hang out today." Amy said.

"That's okay. I'm glad, I got to meet Regan. She seems great." Jack said.

"She is." Amy said, with a smile on her face, she couldn't help but smile every time Regan's name came up.

"So, I was thinking, how would you like to come over for dinner, on Saturday?" Jack asked.

"To your house?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, I was hoping you'd meet my wife and your brother." Jack said.

After a pause, Amy said. "Sure."

"Great, you should get Regan too." Jack said.

"Oh okay, great." Amy said.

"So, 7?" Jack asked.

"Sounds great." Amy said, hanging up.

Amy quickly called Regan.

"Hey." Amy said.

"Hey." Regan said.

"How would you like to have dinner with me and my dad's family on Saturday?" Amy asked.

"I would love to but how did this come about?" Regan asked.

"My dad just called, he asked me over for Saturday and he told me I should get you with me. He really liked you." Amy said, sounding proud.

"I'm really glad but do you really think I should be there. I mean, this is something so private." Regan said.

"I need you to be there. I won't get through it without you, okay? I'm so nervous about this as is, but I know having you with me, will make it so much better." Amy said.

"What time?" Regan asked.

"7." Amy said.

"I'll pick you up at 6:30." Regan said.

"Thank you!" Amy said, almost screaming with happiness.

Once she was done walking to Regan, Amy decided to go over to Karma's house. They hadn't met all day and that was very long time apart for them.

"Hey." Amy said, walking into Karma's room.

"Hey, I was just going to go over to your house." Karma said.

"You were?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, I hadn't seen you all day and it just felt very weird." Karma said.

"I know what you mean. My day feels incomplete, when I don't see you." Amy said.

Karma smiled at Amy, not knowing how to respond.

"So, I have a ton to tell you." Amy said.

Karma tapped the empty place next to her on her bed.

"So, I finally introduced my parents to Regan." Amy said, taking a seat next to Karma.

"How did that go?" Karma asked.

"Pretty well, actually. My dad loved her and my mom too, I think. My mom even told her to stay over for dinner sometime." Amy said.

"Wow." Karma said.

"I know." Amy said.

"What else happened?" Karma asked.

"My dad's invited me over for dinner with his family, this Saturday." Amy said.

"How are you feeling about it?" Karma asked.

"I'm a little nervous but it won't be that bad, Regan's coming with me." Amy said.

"She is?" Karma asked, a little shocked.

"Yeah, my dad invited her." Amy said.

"That's great." Karma said, faking a smile.

Karma was really happy for Amy. She'd finally found someone who made her happy and things with Amy's dad had finally become the way Amy had always wanted but Karma couldn't figure out why, there was this weight in her chest that just wouldn't go away. Karma couldn't help but feel left out. She wasn't used to being told about things in Amy's life after they happened, she was always there during them. Karma knew that Amy loved and that they would always be best friends but she couldn't help but want Amy all to herself again.


End file.
